Five Stories: U.S. Solar Industry Employs More Americans than Oil and Gas Production

Greentech Media reports: “The solar industry provided more than 200,000 jobs in 2015, a 20 percent increase from the previous year. The Solar Foundation’s sixth annual census found that solar jobs accounted for more than 1 percent of all new jobs in the U.S. in 2015. As of November, the figure was 208,859, a 123 percent increase since the first survey in 2010.”

According to Midwest Energy News, “The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) issued its final alternative energy compliance report for the year 2013 last week on the same day that the Department of Energy announced new reports showing that renewable energy standards produced nationwide benefits worth more than seven times their costs in 2013.”

Utility Dive reports: “Capacity additions in the United States slowed last year, but renewable generation made up more than half of the 14,468 MW completed in 2015, according to an analysis by SNL Energy. Wind accounted for 47% of new generation capacity, followed by natural gas (35%) and solar (14%).”

Greentech Media reports: “The U.S. saw a 10 percent dip in coal production in 2015, part of a downward trend that continues to accelerate. It’s now at its lowest level since 1986. The decline was most pronounced in Appalachia, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Central Appalachian Basin saw a 40 percent drop in coal production from 2010 to 2014.”

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